Graduationhttp://www.businessinsider.com/category/graduation
en-usTue, 03 Mar 2015 16:37:11 -0500Tue, 03 Mar 2015 16:37:11 -0500The latest news on Graduation from Business Insiderhttp://static3.businessinsider.com/assets/images/bilogo-250x36-wide-rev.pngBusiness Insiderhttp://www.businessinsider.com
http://www.businessinsider.com/america-has-a-college-dropout-problem-2014-11Americans Are Dropping Out Of College At An Alarming Rate — Here's Whyhttp://www.businessinsider.com/america-has-a-college-dropout-problem-2014-11
Sun, 23 Nov 2014 18:10:01 -0500Jordan Weissmann
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5472693f6bb3f71a08a09f89-806-605/college-student-reading-outside-12.jpg" border="0" alt="college student reading outside"></p><p>America's nagging problem with college dropouts managed to get the tiniest bit worse this year.</p>
<p>The National Student Clearinghouse&nbsp;<a href="http://nscresearchcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/SignatureReport8.pdf" target="_blank">reports</a> that 55 percent of first-time undergraduates who matriculated in the fall of 2008 finished a degree within six years, versus 56.1 percent of those who began in fall 2007.</p>
<p>Keep in mind, we already had <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/03/why-do-so-many-americans-drop-out-of-college/255226/" target="_blank">the lowest</a> college completion rate in the developed world, at least among the 18 countries tracked by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Much like American health care, American higher education continues to set a global standard for inefficiency.</p>
<p>Our dropout crisis doesn’t get discussed a great deal outside of education circles. But it should, since the issue is directly tied to other problems the public rightly obsesses over like rising tuition and student debt. Lots of Americans take at least a few college classes, which stretches state resources thin and drives up costs for everyone.</p>
<p>But because relatively few finish their degrees, we get poor <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/most-inefficient-education-systems-2013-10" target="_blank">bang for our buck</a> compared to other countries. And since dropouts are much more likely <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;ved=0CCsQFjAA&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.educationsector.org%2Fpublications%2Fdegreeless-debt-what-happens-borrowers-who-drop-out&amp;ei=DN9rVL7_EeHlsATrw4IQ&amp;usg=AFQjCNEoBvgB51nJh07caQiARYLEP4HkQQ&amp;bvm=bv.79908130,d.cWc" target="_blank">to default</a> on their student loans, both borrowers and taxpayers end up suffering.</p>
<p>So it’s worth taking a close look at where and how the dropout problem is concentrated in the education system. Here's the simple way to think about it: Traditional students—kids enrolled full time at four-year colleges by their 20th birthday—are very likely to finish school. Nontraditional students—pretty much everybody else—aren't.</p>
<p>According to the NSC, only 39.6 percent of undergrads attended full time during their whole stint in school. They fared well: More than three-quarters of them finished up their degree within six years. On the other hand, the 53 percent of students who attended both full and part time struggled. One-third had dropped out entirely. Meanwhile, almost a quarter were still taking classes. Given that few students who spend more than six years in school finish, chances are most of them will drop out as well.</p>
<p><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/5472413deab8ea792d148dec-800-618/dropout-01.png" border="0" alt="dropout 01"></p>
<p>Now let's take a look at age. Of those who started school at age 20 or younger — as 76 percent of 2008 enrollees did — about 59 percent complete a degree. For older students, graduation rates were closer to 40 percent.</p>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5472413d6da8114736f0d19d-800-617/dropout-02.png" border="0" alt="dropout 02"></p>
<p>As you might expect, students at public and nonprofit four-year institutions — about 59 percent of the cohort — had far higher graduation rates than undergrads at two-year schools. A lot of this is self-selection: If you're prepared to go seek a bachelor's degree, chances are you're better prepared to stick with higher ed.</p>
<p>An enormous fraction of students at two-year schools aren't prepared for college-level work and end up stuck in remedial classes, which lengthen the time to degree and make it less likely they'll ever finish.</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5472413deab8ea6438148de6-800-629/dropout-03.png" border="0" alt="dropout 03"></p>
<p>But even at four-year institutions, the distinction between full-time and part-time students still matters. Taking a few classes while working simply isn't a very realistic path to a degree for most people.</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5472413d69bedd3175a09f89-800-618/dropout-04.png" border="0" alt="dropout 04"></p>
<p>Again, we have a higher education system that works fairly well for the traditional college student — the teenager who shows up on campus ready to dedicate the next four to six years of their lives to school.</p>
<p>But a very, very large chunk of American undergraduates don't fit that profile. They're older, juggling classes and a job or family, and not necessarily up to speed academically. Our education system isn't built to cater to their needs, and its results are extremely wasteful.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/america-has-a-college-dropout-problem-2014-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/city-observatory-report-on-the-young-and-the-restless-2014-10The 10 US Cities Where Young Adults Are Flocking After College http://www.businessinsider.com/city-observatory-report-on-the-young-and-the-restless-2014-10
Mon, 20 Oct 2014 18:55:00 -0400Natasha Bertrand
<p><a href="http://cityobservatory.org/"><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/522a51896bb3f70673b36aa4-1200-900/houston-texas-skyline-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Houston, Texas skyline">City Observatory</a><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"> released a </span><a href="http://cityobservatory.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/YNR-Report-Final.pdf">report</a><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;Monday about how college-educated young people are flocking to cities instead of suburbs. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">Well-educated young adults are</span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;126% more likely to move to a city after college than they were in 2000, according to the report, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/20/upshot/where-young-college-graduates-are-choosing-to-live.html?hp&amp;action=click&amp;pgtype=Homepage&amp;version=HpSum&amp;module=second-column-region&amp;region=top-news&amp;WT.nav=top-news&amp;_r=0">which The New York Times linked to</a>.&nbsp;</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">But they're not just moving to New York or Washington, DC.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Denver, Nashville, San Diego and Salt Lake City, among others, are also attracting these well-educated young adults, who are disproportionately concentrated in the country's 51 largest cities.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">Here are the 10 US cities where the population of college-educated residents age 25 to 34 grew the most between 2000 and 2012, ranked by % change:</span></p>
<ol>
<li>Houston — 49.8%</li>
<li>Nashville — 47.6%</li>
<li>Denver — 46.6%</li>
<li>Austin — 44.3%</li>
<li>Portland, Oregon — 37.3%</li>
<li>Washington, DC — 36.3%</li>
<li>Buffalo — 33.5%</li>
<li>Baltimore — 32%</li>
<li>Los Angeles — 30.4%</li>
<li>Pittsburgh — 28.8%</li>
</ol>
<p>There are a number of reasons why young educated people might be drawn to all of these cities — from Austin, Texas's music scene to the abundance of government jobs in Washington, DC.</p>
<p>Houston — which saw the highest increase in educated young people — would be a practical place to settle down. It's known as <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/houston-best-city-in-america-2014-6?op=1">America's No. 1 job creator </a>and houses more Fortune 500 headquarters than anywhere else in the country except New York.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/pricewaterhousecoopers-report-on-cities-of-opportunity-2014-5" >The 11 Cities With The Most Opportunity Right Now</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/city-observatory-report-on-the-young-and-the-restless-2014-10#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/boon-sim-advise-for-graduates-2014-10This Multibillion Dollar Fund Manager Looks For Three Things When He's Hiring Employeeshttp://www.businessinsider.com/boon-sim-advise-for-graduates-2014-10
Wed, 08 Oct 2014 12:36:00 -0400Akin Oyedele
<p><iframe width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" src="//fast.wistia.net/embed/iframe/geq15d0fey"></iframe></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The head of <a href="http://www.temasek.com.sg/">Temasek</a> USA Boon Sim </span><a href="https://www.onewire.com/Videos/Boon-Sim-Temasek">was recently interviewed</a> by OneWire&nbsp;CEO Skiddy von Stade<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">.</span></p>
<p>He manages a $223 billion portfolio in the&nbsp;<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">investment company owned by the Singaporean government, and had some pearls for anyone just starting out their careers.</span></p>
<p>He talked about making the switch from an engineering degree to a career in finance, when he landed an internship with Credit Suisse in 1991. They were looking for people with a tech background to deal with companies like Cisco.&nbsp;</p>
<p>He worked there for 20 years and rose from intern to Global Head of Mergers and Acquisitions.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">He recently went back to his home country to give the commencement speech at his alma mater, the National University of Singapore. Here's some of his advice:</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">"I would tell kids to keep an open mind. If you think about my career, where I've lived, what I've done - when I grew up in Singapore, I never envisioned I would be doing this ... I would say have a sense of adventure, try something new, take a risk, never talk yourself out of a adventurous situations, and its a big world out there. Be an explorer."</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">After graduation, Sim says he wants three things from employees.</span></p>
<ul>
<li>High integrity</li>
<li>A track record of accomplishments</li>
<li>and intellectual curiosity.</li>
</ul>
<p>Here's how he put it in the video:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">"One, we look for people who have high integrity - that's number one on our list. Two, we look for people who have a track record of accomplishments, whether it's in not-for-profit or for-profit - it doesn't really matter. We look for people with that track record, meaning that they were tenacious, they stayed with it. That's something that is important to us. Thirdly, we look for people who are intellectually curious, who never stop learning, who are always asking "what's the next," "gee how does this work," "help me understand this," because that's what drives our business."</p>
<p><span>Watch the full OneWire interview above and&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.onewire.com/videos" target="_blank">subscribe to the series</a><span>&nbsp;to get new interviews as soon as they are posted.</span></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/boon-sim-advise-for-graduates-2014-10#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/r-us-falls-behind-in-college-competition-oecd-2014-9OECD: The US Has Fallen Behind Other Countries In College Completionhttp://www.businessinsider.com/r-us-falls-behind-in-college-competition-oecd-2014-9
Tue, 09 Sep 2014 15:04:00 -0400Liz Weston
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/540f36455afbd360458b4569-450-300/us-falls-behind-in-college-competition-oecd.jpg" border="0" alt="A graduate from Columbia University's Barnard College uses her a mobile phone to take a photo during the university's commencement ceremony in New York May 16, 2012. REUTERS/Keith Bedford"></p><p></p>
<p>LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The United States has slipped behind many other countries in college completion and "educational mobility," with fewer young Americans getting more education than their parents, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's "Education at a Glance" report.</p>
<p>U.S. college graduation rates rank 19th out of 28 countries studied by the OECD, which tracks education investment and performance of wealthier democracies, said OECD Director for Education and Skills Andreas Schleicher.</p>
<p>The lack of educational mobility has serious implications for individuals and society, he noted. Higher education levels are associated not just with higher earnings, but also with better health, more community engagement and more trust in governments, institutions and other people.</p>
<p>"Raising educational attainment is not only giving countries more income but it is also creating a greater degree of social cohesion," Schleicher said. "Every business transaction [is founded] on trust. Trust in institutions is vital, trust in democracies. All of those aspects are vital for the functioning of societies."</p>
<p>In 2012, 39 percent of young Americans were expected to graduate from college, compared with 60 percent in Iceland, 57 percent in New Zealand and 53 percent in Poland. The U.S. graduation rate was ahead of Canada (35 percent), Germany (31 percent), Switzerland (31 percent), Spain (29 percent), Turkey (27 percent), Italy (26 percent), Chile (23 percent), Hungary (23 percent) and Mexico (22 percent).</p>
<p>In 1995, the United States was first among OECD member countries, with a 33 percent graduation rate. Since then, the average OECD college completion rate has grown from 20 percent to 38 percent as more countries focus on boosting the number of college graduates, Schleicher said.</p>
<p>About half of young people in OECD countries have at least matched their parents' level of education. But in the United States, a larger-than-average proportion had less education (so-called downward mobility) while a smaller-than-average population had more education (upward mobility).</p>
<p>Twenty-nine percent of American men and 17 percent of American women had less education than their parents, compared with the OECD average of 19 percent for men and 13 percent for women. Twenty percent of U.S. men and 27 percent of U.S. women had more education than their folks, compared with the OECD average of 28 percent and 36 percent, respectively.</p>
<p>Among those Americans whose parents failed to finish high school, only 5 percent secured college diplomas, compared with an average of 20 percent in other countries studied. In Canada, Finland and the Russian Federation, over 30 percent of this group of young adults achieved college degrees.</p>
<p>In addition to less educational mobility, the United States, along with Japan, Germany, Austria and Estonia, has "less equitable access" to higher education, meaning that it's harder for people with lower socioeconomic status to attend college, the OECD's Schleicher said. That contrasts with countries such as Finland, Ireland, Australia and the Netherlands, which have both more equitable access to education and higher educational mobility, he said.</p>
<p>An argument could be made that the United States has less mobility because more of its population already had degrees than many other countries, "but you can see countries with similar attainment levels [as] the U.S. showing still a much higher degree of educational mobility," Schleicher said.</p>
<p>Among the report's other findings:</p>
<p>* Investments in education pay off handsomely for both individuals and taxpayers. The net present value of a college education — the benefit in today's dollars after costs and discounting for future inflation — is over $380,000 for U.S. men and nearly $240,000 for U.S. women, the report found.</p>
<p>Higher salaries lead to more taxes collected, far offsetting such costs as defaulted student loans. "Taxpayers get $200,000 more out of every graduate than what they invested," Schleicher said. "It's a very good investment for taxpayers."</p>
<p>* U.S. teachers are paid well compared with those in other countries, but not compared with others in the United States with similar degrees. "In the U.S., teachers earn a lot less than other people with [college] qualifications," Schleicher said.</p>
<p>* The United States was among just a handful of countries that cut its public expenditures on education between 2008 and 2011. Other countries to do so included Estonia, Hungary, Iceland, Italy and the Russian Federation. On average, OECD countries increased public expenditures on education by 7 percent during that period.</p>
<p>(Follow us @ReutersMoney or at http://www.reuters.com/finance/personal-finance Editing by Lauren Young and Dan Grebler)</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-us-falls-behind-in-college-competition-oecd-2014-9#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/most-impressive-high-school-graduates-2014-624 Incredibly Impressive Kids Graduating From High School This Yearhttp://www.businessinsider.com/most-impressive-high-school-graduates-2014-6
Mon, 23 Jun 2014 14:36:00 -0400Melissa Stanger and Melia Robinson
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5398b65b6bb3f7a32e491169-1200-600/incredibly-impressive-students-kids-graduating-high-school-bi-graphic.jpg" border="0" alt="incredibly impressive students kids graduating high school BI graphic" /></p><p>Before queuing up "Pomp and Circumstance," let's take a moment to recognize the best and the brightest high-school seniors in the U.S.</p>
<p>All of these wunderkinds &mdash; including an Olympic athlete, a cancer survivor, a researcher, a Thiel Fellow, a self-published novelist, and a musical darling who's been admitted to all eight Ivy League schools &mdash; show that age has no bearing on what people can accomplish.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Based on reader nominations, local news stories from around the country, and word of mouth, we found the most impressive students graduating from high school this year.</span></p><h3>Kate Avino built an online magazine with a team of 30 writers.</h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5391e75569bedd722903e62d-400-300/kate-avino-built-an-online-magazine-with-a-team-of-30-writers.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><strong>High school:</strong> Indian Hills High School, Franklin Lakes, New Jersey</p>
<p><strong>What makes her impressive:</strong> Avino founded <a href="http://herculture.org/">Her Culture</a> magazine so that women around the world would have a place to read about and share experiences, lifestyles, traditions, languages, and customs. She created the website &mdash; which has articles, online forums, and a blogging platform &mdash; in two days.</p>
<p>Magazine issues are published twice monthly and have featured prominent women such as Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and Congolese women's-rights activist Neema Namadu. Her Culture partners with organizations like World Reader, Hello Perfect, MissHeard Magazine, and Molly &amp; Fox magazine, to help advance Her Culture's mission.</p>
<p>Avino writes for The Huffington Post and Chelsea Krost and is a member of the National Association for Professional Women and the International Women's Association. At school she is the editor-in-chief of the newspaper and the yearbook.</p>
<p><strong>Plans for next year: </strong>Avino will be attending New York University in the fall, majoring in media, culture, and communications and minoring in entrepreneurship. She says she plans to continue working with Her Culture and "kick-starting other magazines to spread women's empowerment."</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Ryan Betz completed a half-marathon in all 50 states.</h3>
<img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/538f5f0369bedd2a7d94eb5d-400-300/ryan-betz-completed-a-half-marathon-in-all-50-states.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><strong>High school:</strong>&nbsp;<span>Park Tudor School, Indianapolis, Indiana</span></p>
<p><strong>What makes him impressive:</strong>&nbsp;When he was a freshman, Ryan Betz sat at the kitchen table one day with his mom and racked his brain for a way to give back to the community, which had given him so many opportunities for success. They decided he should run a half-marathon in every state to raise money for charity.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Over the past four years, Betz has run 655 miles and raised $40,000 through his website, <a href="http://ryanrunning.org/" target="_blank">ryanrunning.com</a>. He</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;created an endowment allowing inner-city students to attend Park Tudor High School, Betz's private college-preparatory school, tuition-free.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">He's talking to Guinness World Records for verification that he is the youngest person to achieve this feat.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Betz averaged one half-marathon a month &mdash; running up a mountain in Hawaii, limping through a trailer park in Kansas with a broken toe, and exploring corners of the U.S. that he never expected to visit. "The smaller, more obscure states showed me how truly awesome America is," Betz says.</span></p>
<p><strong>Plans for next year: </strong>Hoping to earn a college track scholarship, Betz will compete next year as a postgraduate at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, to beef up his transcript and run faster times.</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Saira Blair is on her way to becoming the youngest person to ever serve in the West Virginia Legislature.</h3>
<img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/5395b71eecad04c13b95212f-400-300/saira-blair-is-on-her-way-to-becoming-the-youngest-person-to-ever-serve-in-the-west-virginia-legislature.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><strong>High school:</strong> Hedgesville High School, Martinsburg, West Virginia</p>
<p><strong>What makes her impressive:</strong> Saira Blair <span>turns 18 &mdash; the legal voting age &mdash;&nbsp;</span><span></span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/05/14/this-west-virginia-17-year-old-just-beat-an-incumbent-state-delegate/" target="_blank">in July</a>,&nbsp;but she's already defeated a two-term incumbent in the primary election for the West Virginia House of Delegates.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"I was surprised that the people in my community understood that someone as young as I am could share their conservative beliefs," says Blair, </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"></span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/14/saira-blair-west-virginia_n_5325722.html" target="_blank">who characterized herself as</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> a pro-life, pro-family, and pro-jobs <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">fiscal conservative</span> on her campaign fliers. "You don't have to wait until you're 40, 50, or 60 years old to recognize the social and economic benefits of conservative principles."</span></p>
<p>When Blair decided to run for office, she set out to make a more business-friendly West Virginia. "You can get a good education in W.V. if you choose to. What is difficult to get is a good paying job," says Blair, describing students as "our greatest export."</p>
<p>If elected, she plans to <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">address that issue through tax reforms, judicial reforms, and reducing government bureaucracy.</span></p>
<p><strong>Plans for next year: </strong>Blair plans to double-major in economics and Spanish at West Virginia University this fall.&nbsp;<span>She will appear on the ballot in November, facing off against Democratic candidate Layne Diehl.</span></p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/most-impressive-high-school-graduates-2014-6#crystal-brockington-and-aaron-barron-found-a-more-efficient-way-to-harness-solar-energy-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/why-people-wear-caps-and-gowns-2014-6Why People Wear Caps And Gowns When They Graduatehttp://www.businessinsider.com/why-people-wear-caps-and-gowns-2014-6
Thu, 19 Jun 2014 10:35:00 -0400Kathy Padden
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/53a2f4cbecad04014925a671-480-/graduation-18.jpg" border="0" alt="graduation" width="480" /></p><p>Wearing academic robes is a tradition that dates back to at least the 12th century, around the time when the first universities were being founded in Europe.</p>
<p>During this time, most scholars were also clerics or aspiring clerics, and excess in apparel was not encouraged. As such, in the beginning it is thought that there was little difference between what the academics were wearing and the laity, excepting that the academics and clergy tended to wear very plainly colored garb.</p>
<p>Beyond that, the clothing was simply practical. When the universities were originally formed, they had no official buildings of their own to hold lectures in, so classes typically gathered in nearby churches. Their simple robes and outer covering served the purpose of keeping them warm in the drafty medieval church buildings, and the hoods kept the weather off when they ventured out of doors.</p>
<p>The earliest standardization of academic garb occurred as a byproduct of a 1222 edict by Stephen Langton at the Council of Oxford, where it was declared that all clerks should wear a form of the cappa clausa, a long cape typically worn over a robe. In short order, this became thought of as a mark of an academic as the newly minted universities adopted it for the aforementioned reasons, while at the same time the clergy in general (outside of academic contexts) over time wore it less and less. By 1321, this ultimately lead to the University of Coimbra mandating that plain gowns be worn by Licentiates, Bachelors, and Doctors. By Tudor times, more or less this same basic standard had been set for academic dress at Oxford and Cambridge.</p>
<p>Gradually more comfortable versions were adopted keeping a version of the robe, but without the thick outer layer. As for coloring, things remained very plain, generally black. Certain colors weren&rsquo;t designated to represent specific areas of study until a few centuries later in the late 1800s, with the standards varying from country to country and in many cases university to university.</p>
<p>So that&rsquo;s the gowns, what about the goofy looking caps, or mortarboards?<br /><br />The mortarboard is called such due to it resembling the flat board used by bricklayers to hold mortar (called a &lsquo;hawk&rsquo;). The cap is simply a square, flat board fastened to a skullcap with a jaunty tassel fastened to its center. Some historians suggest the mortarboard is the descendant of the biretta, which was headgear often sported by Roman Catholic clerics, scholars and professors. This, in turn, probably derives from common pileus (brimless hat) worn by the laity. The wearing of this hat was first ordered in 1311 by the Church at the Synod of Bergamo, spreading from there as standard headgear by clerics.</p>
<p>By the 15th century, the mortarboard cap was incorporated into the standard garb for many scholars, among others. It was initially not generally undecorated as today (other than the tassel), but early versions could feature elaborate embroidery and adornments.</p>
<p>Further, in the early days at some universities, the mortarboard was reserved for those who had earned the title of &ldquo;master&rdquo; or &ldquo;doctor.&rdquo; As explained by French historian Jacques Le Goff:</p>
<blockquote class="blockquote">
<p>Once he had passed the examination, the candidate became licensed, however he could only possess the title of &ldquo;doctor&rdquo; and teach as a Master following the public examination &hellip; In this way, he assumed for the first time the role of the Master in a university setting. After this, the archdeacon ceremoniously conferred upon him the authorization to teach, along with the symbolic regalia appropriate to his function: a professorial chair, an open book, a golden ring, and the mortar board or cap.<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;</span></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Today the bar is not set quite as high, and all grads are typically entitled to mortarboards in regions where they are worn.</p>
<p>The tradition of the graduating class throwing their caps in the air at the end of the ceremony has a relatively recent genesis. The first known instance of this was in 1912 at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Michigan. There are slightly conflicting accounts as to the reason they did this, but the general story is that it is because the Academy decided to give them their officers&rsquo; hats at the graduation itself. Thus, the graduates chucked their midshipmen&rsquo;s caps in the air upon graduation, and ceremoniously placed their officers&rsquo; hats on. Unfortunately, how that ended up catching on with other universities has been lost to history.</p>
<p>So from medieval abbeys where the style of dress was more or less just a version of what most people wore in parts of Europe at the time, to modern high school gyms where the garb is decidedly out of place outside of certain ceremonies, caps and gowns have continued to denote academic accomplishment, with no sign of the tradition letting up any time soon.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/high-tech-ways-to-cheat-2014-6" >Chinese Teens Have Found Remarkable High-Tech Ways To Cheat On Tests</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-people-wear-caps-and-gowns-2014-6#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/young-people-cant-find-jobs-2014-6Here's The Real Reason That Young People Can't Find Jobshttp://www.businessinsider.com/young-people-cant-find-jobs-2014-6
Wed, 11 Jun 2014 05:30:16 -0400DEREK THOMPSON
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5398213eeab8ea7e67491173-1200-924/work-job-career.jpg" border="0" alt="work job career " /></p><p>It's fairly amazing to write an article called&nbsp;<a href="http://online.wsj.com/articles/andrew-puzder-why-young-people-cant-find-work-1402355248">"Why Young People Can't Find Work"</a>&nbsp;that doesn't include the word&nbsp;<em>recession</em>&nbsp;or the phrase&nbsp;<em>going to college</em>, but the&nbsp;<em>Wall Street Journ</em>al's opinion section is nothing if not consistently amazing, in its own way.</p>
<p>So no surprise that in an op-ed in this morning's paper, Andrew Puzder, a restaurant executive, uses the question as a shoehorn to slip smoothly into a familiar criticism of Obamacare, which he blames for everything from depressing employment to destroying entry-level jobs.</p>
<p>Rather than pick on Puzder, I'd rather pick on his shoehorn: Why can't young people find work,&nbsp;<em>really</em>? There are three reasons.</p>
<p>The first reason that young people can't find work is that they're not looking for work, because they're in school.</p>
<p>Puzder notes that&nbsp;the BLS just recorded the lowest percentage of 16- to 19-year-olds working or looking for work since it started counting such things in 1948. But look what else changed since the 1940s: The share of the population with less than a high school education fell from 76 percent to 12 percent, while the share of Americans with a bachelor's degree septupled to 32 percent.</p>
<p>The BLS itself&nbsp;<a href="http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2013/article/labor-force-projections-to-2022-the-labor-force-participation-rate-continues-to-fall.htm">says</a>&nbsp;that "the major factor producing this significant [change in labor participation] has been an increase in school attendance at all levels."</p>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/53981200eab8ea9227491174-840-649/fig2fixed.jpg" border="0" alt="fig2fixed" /></p>
<p><span>The second reason that young people can't find work is that they're young. Young workers today are under-employed at high levels, but&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.newyorkfed.org/research/current_issues/ci20-1.pdf">they've been under-employed at high levels for decades.</a><span>&nbsp;Because they're young. Young people have long suffered higher unemployment than the rest of the country, unless they have a college degree. Because they're young. </span></p>
<p><span>Graduates are moving from unemployment (school) to employment (workforce). Finding a job is always harder than keeping a job.</span></p>
<p><span><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/539812bfeab8ea623c49116a-803-660/screen shot 2014-06-11 at 4.25.40 am.png" border="0" alt="Screen Shot 2014 06 11 at 4.25.40 AM" /></span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span></p>
<p><span><span>The third reason that young people can't find work is that they're having the same trouble that other job-seekers are having following the deep recession and slow recovery. </span></span></p>
<p><span><span>One way to measure whether the youth job market is particularly sick is to investigate whether the youth unemployment rate is rising faster than the rate for overall workers. Here's the youth unemployment multiple going back to 1985...</span></span></p>
<p><span><span><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/539812f0eab8ea3927491183-801-659/screen shot 2014-06-11 at 4.25.03 am.png" border="0" alt="Screen Shot 2014 06 11 at 4.25.03 AM" /><br /></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">The first thing you might see is that the overall youth unemployment rate (in light blue) hasn't budged from its historical average. There is nothing&nbsp;</span><em style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">uniquely wrong</em><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;with the youth job market. Youth unemployment is exactly as high as you might expect. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">The second thing you'll see is that there is something uniquely wrong with the job market for young grads who never went to college. Their unemployment rate is clearly elevated&mdash;a sign that a college degree is a necessary rung on the ladder to the quality career.</span></p>
<p class="p1">Young people&mdash;including college grads&mdash;take time to establish themselves in the economy, and they always have. The most important concern today shouldn&rsquo;t be whether they find work, but what kind of work they find. "It has become more common for underemployed college graduates to find themselves in low-wage jobs&rdquo; since the 2001 recession, according to a recent&nbsp;<a href="http://www.newyorkfed.org/research/current_issues/ci20-1.pdf">New York Fed report</a>.</p>
<p class="p1">The problem isn't that Obama killed entry level jobs, as&nbsp;Puzder argues. It's that he lacks the power to enrich those entry level jobs.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/young-people-cant-find-jobs-2014-6#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/celebrities-who-didnt-get-degrees-2014-514 Hollywood Influencers Who Failed To Finish Their Degreeshttp://www.businessinsider.com/celebrities-who-didnt-get-degrees-2014-5
Mon, 09 Jun 2014 12:50:00 -0400Kenny Herzog
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/534ff906eab8eab43ff1c956-480-/seth-rogen.png" border="0" alt="Seth Rogen" width="480" /></p><p>As&nbsp;<a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/pictures/14-best-celebrity-commencement-speeches-20140520">graduation time</a>&nbsp;continues across our fine land, and hordes of ambitious young adults board the bus to reality armed with nothing more than framed diplomas and student debt, it's only natural we highlight those celebrities who've made millions without so much as a BA or GED.</p>
<p>Now, we're not advising future alumni close their books and seek fortune in Hollywood.</p>
<p>But through a combination of luck, good looks and/or truly singular vision, these 14 auteurs (tutored kid stars need not apply) found success sans academic follow-through. Draw your own conclusions.</p>
<h2><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/celebrities-who-didnt-get-degrees-2014-5#james-cameron-didnt-make-it-past-his-freshman-year-1">Celebrities who never graduated &gt;</a></h2>
<h3>More From Rolling Stone:</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/pictures/14-best-celebrity-commencement-speeches-20140520" target="_blank">14 Best Celebrity Commencement Speeches</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/readers-poll-the-best-graduation-songs-ever-20120530" target="_blank">Rolling Stone&rsquo;s Best Graduation Songs Ever</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/10-mind-blowing-college-marching-band-cover-songs-20130917" target="_blank">10 Mind-Blowing College Marching Band Cover Songs</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/lists/celebrities-who-have-left-scientology-20130806" target="_blank">Celebrities Who Left Scientology</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/pictures/50-things-millennials-have-never-heard-of-20131125" target="_blank">50 Things Millennials Have Never Heard Of</a></li>
</ul><h3>James Cameron didn't make it past his freshman year.</h3>
<img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/527a7d49eab8eafb779ab764-400-300/james-cameron-didnt-make-it-past-his-freshman-year.jpg" alt="" />
<p><div class="desc">
<p><strong>Last Place of Education:&nbsp;</strong>Fullerton College&nbsp; (Fullerton, California)</p>
<p><strong>How Long Did He Last?&nbsp;</strong>Freshman year</p>
<p><strong>Reason for Ditching:&nbsp;</strong>The "Avatar"/"Titanic"/"Terminator"<em>&nbsp;</em>director studied physics and English for two semesters, before discovering,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ldsfilm.com/directors/Cameron.html">as he put it</a>, "I was probably better at other things, although I had no problem at all with the abstract concepts of physics."</p>
<p><strong>How'd That Work Out? "</strong>Avatar"<em>&nbsp;</em>and "Titanic"<em>&nbsp;</em>are the two highest-grossing domestic movies of all time, respectively, having pulled in nearly a billion and a half U.S. filmgoer bucks combined. And along with the aforementioned "Terminator," they also transformed the look and feel of American cinema. But, intellectually, that nine months of physics studies couldn't have hurt.</p>
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<p>&nbsp;</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Robert Downey Jr. only lasted until his junior year.</h3>
<img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/52d8353e6da8114c5d3574b2-400-300/robert-downey-jr-only-lasted-until-his-junior-year.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><strong>Last Place of Education:&nbsp;</strong><span>Santa Monica High School (Santa Monica, California)</span></p>
<p><strong>How Long Did He Last?&nbsp;</strong><span>Junior year</span></p>
<p><strong>Reason for Ditching:&nbsp;</strong><span>Budding A-lister and easily distracted student Downey Jr. thought about his actor father's ultimatum to "either show up [to school] every day or quit and get a job" and went with the latter at just 15 years old.</span></p>
<p><strong>How'd That Work Out?&nbsp;</strong><span>Downey, who notoriously struggled with drug abuse and served jail time during portions of his 20s and 30s, probably would have benefitted from a bit of straight and narrow. Still, there's no denying the guy's talent and resilience. Not only is the once-ubiquitous teen star ("</span>Weird Science," "Less Than Zero<span>," etc.) clean and sober, but he's been riding high on the "</span>Iron Man"<em>&nbsp;</em><span>and "</span>Sherlock"<em>&nbsp;</em><span>franchises and is arguably the most bankable male lead of his generation.&nbsp;</span><span><br /></span></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Claire Danes ditched Yale during her sophomore year.</h3>
<img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/538750ea69bedd736446c950-400-300/claire-danes-ditched-yale-during-her-sophomore-year.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><strong>Last Place of Education: </strong>Yale University (New Haven, Connecticut)</p>
<p><strong>How Long Did She Last? </strong>Sophomore year</p>
<p><strong>Reason for Ditching: </strong>While it's admirable that the "My So-Called Life" star attempted a "normal" college experience (or, <a href="http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/2013/10/31/claire-danes-november-vogue-cover-interview">as she put it</a>, a stab at learning "how to hang the f--- out"), the two-year stay (during which she studied psychology and fine arts) was more respite than anything. In the "Homeland"Emmy winner's <a href="http://www.redonline.co.uk/red-women/interviews/claire-danes-red-magazine-cover-interview">own words</a>, "I realized it was more about gaining some distance from the business and divorcing myself from responsibility for a while."</p>
<p><strong>How'd That Work Out?</strong> In addition to her lauded role as "Homeland's" bipolar CIA agent Carrie Mathison, she racked up more Emmy and Golden Globe victories for the title role in HBO's "Temple Grandin." Not that former "So-Called Life" love interest Jordan Catalano (aka School of Visual Arts grad Jared Leto) is doing <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/oscars-2014-jared-leto-acceptance-speech-22745337">too bad himself either</a>/p&gt;</p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/celebrities-who-didnt-get-degrees-2014-5#quentin-tarantino-decided-early-on-that-his-time-was-better-spent-studying-the-arts-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/top-ten-cities-for-recent-grads-linkedin-2014-6Here Are The Top 10 Cities For Recent Grads (LNKD)http://www.businessinsider.com/top-ten-cities-for-recent-grads-linkedin-2014-6
Wed, 04 Jun 2014 12:00:00 -0400Jillian D'Onfro
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/538f3ff6ecad049942b5dd74-910-683/proud-college-graduate-4.jpg" border="0" alt="proud college graduate" /></p><p>As graduation season winds down and thousands of 20-somethings start hunting for their first job, LinkedIn <a href="https://www.slideshare.net/secret/A0G3GbPZtP3uDT" target="_blank">released a list</a> of the top 10 cities for recent graduates.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The company<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;analyzed the migration patterns of LinkedIn members over the the past year and then ranked each of the destination cities by the percentage of movers who were recent graduates to determine what hotspots are particularly appealing.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">Some, you'd expect (like San Francisco), while others were a bit more of a surprise (Madrid makes the list despite Spain's high youth unemployment rate, because most of the hiring companies are international).&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>Check out the list, and then check out <a href="https://www.slideshare.net/secret/A0G3GbPZtP3uDT" target="_blank">LinkedIn's slideshare</a> for more information about what companies are hiring:</p>
<ol>
<li>Paris, France (where 42% of new residents in 2013 were recent college grads)</li>
<li>Washington DC&nbsp;</li>
<li>Minneapolis - St. Paul&nbsp;</li>
<li>Madrid, Spain</li>
<li>New York City</li>
<li>Chicago</li>
<li>London, England&nbsp;</li>
<li>San Francisco Bay Area</li>
<li>Bangalore, India&nbsp;</li>
<li>Sao Paulo, &nbsp;Brazil (where 34% of new residents in 2013 were recent college grads)&nbsp;</li>
</ol><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/linkedin-ceo-jeff-weiner-2014-6#ixzz33gdF4bXn" >LinkedIn's CEO Uses This Management Trick To Avoid Feedback Confusion</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/top-ten-cities-for-recent-grads-linkedin-2014-6#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/harvard-grads-red-tape-on-caps-2014-5Harvard Grads Wear Red Tape On Caps In Solidarity With Sexual Assault Victimshttp://www.businessinsider.com/harvard-grads-red-tape-on-caps-2014-5
Thu, 29 May 2014 16:24:00 -0400Emmett Knowlton
<p>Members of the Harvard University Class of 2014 marked their graduation caps today with red tape as a symbol of support toward victims of sexual assault and to protest the university's response to attacks on campus.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck">
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23ourharvard14&amp;src=hash">#ourharvard14</a> red tape everywhere we're looking! <a href="http://t.co/gG80e1GYqQ">pic.twitter.com/gG80e1GYqQ</a></p>
&mdash; OurHarvard (@OurHarvard) <a href="https://twitter.com/OurHarvard/statuses/472011865602945024">May 29, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script>
<p>The action was organized by Our Harvard Can Do Better, a victims' support group on campus. <a href="http://www.ourharvard14.com/#about" target="_blank">According to the group's website</a>,&nbsp;<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"[the red tape] is a respectful gesture of solidarity for survivors, celebration of the work done by the senior class to bring attention to the issue of sexual violence, and call of urgency for the work that needs to be continued to create a safer campus."&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><a href="http://features.thecrimson.com/2014/senior-survey/" target="_blank">In a recent survey conducted by The Harvard Crimson</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, 12% of women in the Class of 2014 said they were sexually assaulted at Harvard, but only 16% of victims reported the assault. Both Harvard College and Harvard Law School are under review by the U.S. Education Department's Office for Civil Rights after Title IX complaints were filed against the school alleging that college officials discouraged victims from pursuing discipline for assailants.&nbsp;</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span><span>"I would like to see more than task forces,"&nbsp;</span><span>Kate Sim, a graduating senior who helped found Our Harvard, said in&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-05-29/harvard-graduates-wear-red-tape-in-sexual-assault-policy-protest" target="_blank">an interview with Bloomberg</a>. "Policy change is a long process, but I would like to see students more integrated into the change-making process."</span></span></p>
<p><span>Bloomberg&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-05-29/harvard-graduates-wear-red-tape-in-sexual-assault-policy-protest">reports&nbsp;</a>that graduates at two fellow Ivy League schools &mdash; Brown University and Columbia University &mdash; also wore markings on their mortarboard's to stand in solidarity with victims of sexual assault.</span></p>
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<p>Harvard seniors stand with sexual assault survivors <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23ourharvard2014&amp;src=hash">#ourharvard2014</a> <a href="http://t.co/5nbtcr93rR">pic.twitter.com/5nbtcr93rR</a></p>
&mdash; Mark Krass (@wekrassy) <a href="https://twitter.com/wekrassy/statuses/472019789482065921">May 29, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script>
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<p><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23ourharvard14&amp;src=hash">#ourharvard14</a> red tapes in memorial church! <a href="http://t.co/m2h1Hgiqiv">pic.twitter.com/m2h1Hgiqiv</a></p>
&mdash; OurHarvard (@OurHarvard) <a href="https://twitter.com/OurHarvard/statuses/471981063901028352">May 29, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<p>Harvard's co-op gets creative with the red stripe! <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23ourharvard14&amp;src=hash">#ourharvard14</a> <a href="http://t.co/sodmVUgCJt">pic.twitter.com/sodmVUgCJt</a></p>
&mdash; OurHarvard (@OurHarvard) <a href="https://twitter.com/OurHarvard/statuses/472018789987811330">May 29, 2014</a><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em; color: #222222;">&nbsp;</span></blockquote><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/harvard-grads-red-tape-on-caps-2014-5#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/business-insiders-advice-for-college-grads-2014-525 Things We Wish Someone Had Told Us At Graduationhttp://www.businessinsider.com/business-insiders-advice-for-college-grads-2014-5
Thu, 29 May 2014 11:40:00 -0400Leah Goldman
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/53873ee66bb3f7b31829a010-735-551/melia-and-jill-1.png" border="0" alt="melia and jill" /></p><p>It's graduation time, and everyone is sharing advice for graduates.</p>
<p>So we decided to ask our co-workers at Business Insider, "What do you wish someone had told you at graduation?"</p>
<p>From where you should try to get a job, to what you should drink, to how you should spend your money, our colleagues had a lot to say.</p>
<p>But it's all valuable and comes right from the brains of people who have already experienced it.</p>
<p>Enjoy, and good luck!</p><h3>Alyson Shontell, Senior Reporter, Tech</h3>
<img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/98b9b914ab9b114afcf76000-400-300/alyson-shontell-senior-reporter-tech.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>Join a startup when you graduate run by seasoned, smart founders. In an ideal world, you'll pick one that will grow far bigger than it is when you join it. Either way, you will get tremendous experience and get to try your hand at a number of different roles, which can help you decide what you actually want to do with your life. And if the company grows, your career can grow with it.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Steve Kovach, Senior Editor, Tech</h3>
<img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/538739aeecad04c56a29a014-400-300/steve-kovach-senior-editor-tech.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>My advice is to not settle. There's a good chance your first job will be something you hate. If that's the case, don't stop looking until you land somewhere you can see yourself working for several years.</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Henry Blodget, Founder & CEO</h3>
<img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/506c67b2ecad042466000003-400-300/henry-blodget-founder-and-ceo.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>The real world doesn't care where you went to school or what you did when you were there. Your diploma might help you get a job, but the moment you start working, the only thing that will matter is how much you help your bosses, colleagues, employers, clients, and/or customers.</p>
<p>So, congratulations on your success &mdash; you deserve it. But if you want to do well in life, forget about all of that and start helping.</p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/business-insiders-advice-for-college-grads-2014-5#mamta-badkar-senior-markets-reporter-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/advice-from-best-commencement-speeches-2014-5Valuable Life Advice From 12 Of The Greatest Commencement Speeches Of All Timehttp://www.businessinsider.com/advice-from-best-commencement-speeches-2014-5
Sat, 24 May 2014 13:00:00 -0400Richard Feloni
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/537c8d19eab8eaae51dd357f-480-/steve-jobs-commencement-hd-2.jpg" border="0" alt="Steve Jobs Commencement HD 2" width="480" /></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The best graduation speeches last the test of time, offering wisdom and insight that is just as helpful to a 21-year-old as to someone at the peak of their career.<span><br /></span></span></p>
<p>Inspired by recent round ups by&nbsp;<a href="http://apps.npr.org/commencement/">NPR</a> and <a href="http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/05/20/the-best-commencement-addresses-of-all-time/">Brain Pickings</a>&nbsp;of great commencement speeches,&nbsp;we've highlighted our all-time favorites and the timeless advice they offer.</p>
<p>T<span style="background-color: #ffffff;">hese speeches touch on&nbsp;dealing with failure, adapting to change, and the importance of self-discovery. Re</span>ad on to see the powerful life lessons shared by highly influential people, including J.K. Rowling, Conan O'Brien, and Steve Jobs.</p><h3>J.K. Rowling said that you must not fear failure, no matter how grim things get.</h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/537c96e069bedd420a57d111-400-300/jk-rowling-said-that-you-must-not-fear-failure-no-matter-how-grim-things-get.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/J.-K.-Rowling/e/B000AP9A6K/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1400685711&amp;sr=1-2-ent">The author</a> of the "Harry Potter"<em>&nbsp;</em>series told Harvard's class of 2008 about the dark period she experienced before achieving success. "<span>An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless. The fears that my parents had had for me, and that I had had for myself, had both come to pass, and by every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew," Rowling said.</span></p>
<p><span>But when she was at the bottom, she realized that her life went on, and she decided to press forward. "</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable," she said. "It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all &mdash; in which case, you fail by default.</span></p>
<p><span>"You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, for all that it is painfully won, and it has been worth more than any qualification I ever earned," she said.</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><strong><a href="http://harvardmagazine.com/2008/06/the-fringe-benefits-failure-the-importance-imagination">See the transcript</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;</strong><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHGqp8lz36c#t=284">watch the video</a>.</strong></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Steve Jobs told graduates they must never settle.</h3>
<img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/537c8cd369bedda45b57d112-400-300/steve-jobs-told-graduates-they-must-never-settle.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>The legendary founder and CEO of Apple told Stanford University's class of 2005 that they needed to live each day as if it were their last. He'd been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a year earlier.</p>
<p>Jobs said this mindset will make you understand the importance of your work. "And the only way to do great work is to love what you do," he said. "If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it."</p>
<p>Settling means giving in to someone else's vision of your life. Jobs warned against this temptation:&nbsp;"Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition."</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-full-text-of-steve-jobs-stanford-commencement-speech-2011-10">See the transcript</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;</strong><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc">watch the video</a>.</strong></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Conan O'Brien said that you must be willing to adapt to change and adjust your dreams.</h3>
<img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/537c9423eab8eaeb6cdd357e-400-300/conan-obrien-said-that-you-must-be-willing-to-adapt-to-change-and-adjust-your-dreams.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>In his hilarious 2011 address to Dartmouth College, the late night talk show host spoke about his brief run on "The Tonight Show" before being replaced by Jay Leno. O'Brien described the fallout as the lowest point in his life, feeling very publicly humiliated and defeated. But once he got back on his feet and went on a comedy tour across the country, he realized something.</p>
<p><span>"For decades, in show business, the ultimate goal of every comedian was to host 'The Tonight Show,'" he said. "It was the Holy Grail, and like many people I thought that achieving that goal would define me as successful. But that is not true. No specific job or career goal defines me, and it should not define you.</span></p>
<p><span><span>"Well I am here to tell you that whatever you think your dream is now, it will probably change. And that&rsquo;s okay," he said.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span><strong><a href="http://teamcoco.com/content/watch-conan-give-dartmouth-college-commencement-address">See the transcript</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;</strong></span></span><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELC_e2QBQMk">watch the video</a>.</strong></p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/advice-from-best-commencement-speeches-2014-5#robert-krulwich-told-graduates-that-they-should-not-wait-for-opportunities-to-be-handed-to-them-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/advice-from-best-commencement-speeches-2014-512 Pieces Of Valuable Life Advice From The Greatest Commencement Speeches Of All Timehttp://www.businessinsider.com/advice-from-best-commencement-speeches-2014-5
Wed, 21 May 2014 13:13:53 -0400Richard Feloni
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/537c8d19eab8eaae51dd357f-480-/steve-jobs-commencement-hd-2.jpg" border="0" alt="Steve Jobs Commencement HD 2" width="480" /></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The best graduation speeches last the test of time, offering wisdom and insight that is just as helpful to a 21-year-old as to someone at the peak of their career.<span><br /></span></span></p>
<p>Inspired by recent round ups by&nbsp;<a href="http://apps.npr.org/commencement/">NPR</a> and <a href="http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/05/20/the-best-commencement-addresses-of-all-time/">Brain Pickings</a>&nbsp;of great commencement speeches,&nbsp;we've highlighted our all-time favorites and the timeless advice they offer.</p>
<p>T<span style="background-color: #ffffff;">hese speeches touch on&nbsp;dealing with failure, adapting to change, and the importance of self-discovery. Re</span>ad on to see the powerful life lessons shared by highly influential people, including J.K. Rowling, Conan O'Brien, and Steve Jobs.</p><h3>J.K. Rowling said that you must not fear failure, no matter how grim things get.</h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/537c96e069bedd420a57d111-400-300/jk-rowling-said-that-you-must-not-fear-failure-no-matter-how-grim-things-get.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/J.-K.-Rowling/e/B000AP9A6K/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1400685711&amp;sr=1-2-ent">The author</a> of the "Harry Potter"<em>&nbsp;</em>series told Harvard's class of 2008 about the dark period she experienced before achieving success. "<span>An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless. The fears that my parents had had for me, and that I had had for myself, had both come to pass, and by every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew," Rowling said.</span></p>
<p><span>But when she was at the bottom, she realized that her life went on, and she decided to press forward. "</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable," she said. "It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all &mdash; in which case, you fail by default.</span></p>
<p><span>"You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, for all that it is painfully won, and it has been worth more than any qualification I ever earned," she said.</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><strong><a href="http://harvardmagazine.com/2008/06/the-fringe-benefits-failure-the-importance-imagination">See the transcript</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;</strong><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHGqp8lz36c#t=284">watch the video</a>.</strong></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Steve Jobs told graduates they must never settle.</h3>
<img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/537c8cd369bedda45b57d112-400-300/steve-jobs-told-graduates-they-must-never-settle.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>The legendary founder and CEO of Apple told Stanford University's class of 2005 that they needed to live each day as if it were their last. He'd been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a year earlier.</p>
<p>Jobs said this mindset will make you understand the importance of your work. "And the only way to do great work is to love what you do," he said. "If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it."</p>
<p>Settling means giving in to someone else's vision of your life. Jobs warned against this temptation:&nbsp;"Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition."</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-full-text-of-steve-jobs-stanford-commencement-speech-2011-10">See the transcript</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;</strong><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc">watch the video</a>.</strong></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Conan O'Brien said that you must be willing to adapt to change and adjust your dreams.</h3>
<img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/537c9423eab8eaeb6cdd357e-400-300/conan-obrien-said-that-you-must-be-willing-to-adapt-to-change-and-adjust-your-dreams.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>In his hilarious 2011 address to Dartmouth College, the late night talk show host spoke about his brief run on "The Tonight Show" before being replaced by Jay Leno. O'Brien described the fallout as the lowest point in his life, feeling very publicly humiliated and defeated. But once he got back on his feet and went on a comedy tour across the country, he realized something.</p>
<p><span>"For decades, in show business, the ultimate goal of every comedian was to host 'The Tonight Show,'" he said. "It was the Holy Grail, and like many people I thought that achieving that goal would define me as successful. But that is not true. No specific job or career goal defines me, and it should not define you.</span></p>
<p><span><span>"Well I am here to tell you that whatever you think your dream is now, it will probably change. And that&rsquo;s okay," he said.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span><strong><a href="http://teamcoco.com/content/watch-conan-give-dartmouth-college-commencement-address">See the transcript</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;</strong></span></span><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELC_e2QBQMk">watch the video</a>.</strong></p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/advice-from-best-commencement-speeches-2014-5#robert-krulwich-told-graduates-that-they-should-not-wait-for-opportunities-to-be-handed-to-them-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/what-i-wish-id-known-before-i-graduated-college-2014-513 Things I Wish I'd Known Before I Graduated Collegehttp://www.businessinsider.com/what-i-wish-id-known-before-i-graduated-college-2014-5
Wed, 21 May 2014 12:12:15 -0400Simon T. Bailey, Shift Your Brilliance
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/537ccac569beddc35857d11c-480-/simon-bailey.jpg" border="0" alt="Simon Bailey" width="480" /></p><p>Almost three decades have passed since I graduated from high school and then from college. I was as lost as a goose in a blizzard. I had no concrete plans, very little guidance, and didn't do any significant travel outside of <span>my hometown,&nbsp;</span>Buffalo, N.Y. I was so happy to escape to Atlanta, Georgia, but little did I know that in my cluelessness it would cost me time, money, and energy.<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>Eventually, I discovered, in the words of Sir Ken Robinson, "success is not a linear path, but a series of detours, full of twists and turns."</p>
<p>I wish someone would have pulled me by the ear and told me the raw truth. Maybe they did or didn't. Nevertheless, it didn't sink in. I don't want this generation to repeat my mistakes, so here are 13 things I want them to know as they receive their diplomas.<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p><strong>1. Embrace seasoning.</strong> When I worked at Disney, there were some promotions that bypassed me, and I often wondered why. It took me a few years to realize there were a few missing ingredients in my flavor profile. Seasoning is embracing the character-building moments when you don't know what you don't know, but you are going to figure it out. Seasoning is acquiring the mental agility and emotional bandwidth to attain and retain whatever life brings you.&nbsp;<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>It would take the seasoning of a relationship, a mentor, and a failure to help me attain the right flavor. Roger Hammer said it best: "I send a lot of horses out to the fairs for seasoning, to educate them. Some of them come around, and some don't."<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p><strong>2. Do the unthinkable.</strong> I was recently talking with a guy name Robert at a conference. He shared with me that he had significant retail experience and heard that Microsoft was opening a retail store similar to Apple. He heard through the grapevine that they were mainly hiring people who had worked at the Apple Store.<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>Well, he didn't have the inside track on landing the job or any hopes of getting in through traditional means of getting the job at Microsoft so he did something unreasonable. He sent an email directly to Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft. He scoured the internet to find his email address. Two weeks later he received an email response from Steve's assistant who passed his name onto the appropriate person within Microsoft. No risks. No rewards.<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>Robert succeeded because he did something the average person would never do. Contact the CEO directly. This bold move put him a cut above the rest. While everyone was sitting by the phone waiting for the recruiter to call them or listening to crickets, he took the bull by the horns and made it happen. What are you going to do?<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p><strong>3. Forgive and move on.</strong> Stop crying over spilled milk. It happened. Let it go and move on. You are wasting precious energy worrying or trying to fix or change someone or something. It is what it is. The future moves toward you when you let go of whatever has been holding onto you. Dr. Christen Mirescu from Princeton says, "When the brain is worried it slows down and doesn't produce neurogenesis, which is the process of growing neurons that help the brain grow."<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p><strong>4. Habits are more important than goals.</strong> You hear all of the motivation and personal development experts advising you&nbsp;"set a goal." I have discovered that there are some goals I set and didn't reach. Why? Was it because I was dumb, slow, or excluded from the lucky sperm bank?&nbsp; No. When you do something over and over again and don't need to think about it, then it becomes ingrained in your subconscious as a permanent behavior. Do you really have to think about driving or riding home? No, you just do it.&nbsp;<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>When you have a desire or a goal that is deeply important to you but never change your habits, the goal will never become a reality. A habit forms a belief and belief creates behavior and behavior produces an outcome. Change your habits. Change your life.<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p><strong>5. Every day is an interview.</strong> People are sizing you up in three seconds. Look your best at all times. Smile. Be nice. Say hello to the person who can do nothing for you. Greet the receptionist of the business with a warm hello and handshake if appropriate. Introduce yourself. Listen more, and talk less. Speak clearly and thoughtfully. Have a point of view, and don't wait for someone to read your mind.<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p><strong>6. Relationships are the currency of the future.</strong> When my parents dropped me off in Atlanta they made sure I was surrounded with an extended support group that would look out for me. Well, I didn't know how to engage them by calling to check in, ask if there was anything I could do for them, or be available to volunteer or help any way I could.&nbsp;<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Because the well was empty and in the words of Harvey Mackay, I didn</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">'</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">t dig it before I was thirsty, there was nothing for me to draw from in the time of need. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">I wish someone would</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">'</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">ve told me to cultivate relationships. They will become critical to your future.</span><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p><strong>7. Don't get a job. Instead, go to work.</strong> We are living in a world where the companies and businesses that will thrive in 21st century are cultivating four skill clusters: digital-age literacy, such as grasping economic concepts; inventive thinking, such as self-direction and the ability to work independently; effective communication, such as interpersonal skills; and high productivity, which is prioritizing, planning, and managing for results.</p>
<p>I wish someone had told me to find a place of employment that would help me develop these four skills clusters &mdash; instead of chasing after a paycheck. I made decent money but lacked the critical-thinking skills I needed back then. &nbsp;<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p><strong>8. Find your lane and work it.</strong> You may not have the ability, talent, or gift of Shakespeare, Einstein, Usain Bolt, or Lady GaGa. Don't sweat it. Your gift is one that needs to be uncovered and mastered. What do you do well? What do people compliment you on? When you are operating at the optimal level what are you doing? That's your lane. Learn all you can. In high school, I thought I wanted to be an accountant, but a teacher reminded me that I have a communication gift. WOW &hellip; thank you Mrs. Rita Lankes.&nbsp;<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p><strong>9. Beware of micro memes.</strong> A micro meme is a piece of cultural information, like a custom or an idea, that's passed on from person to person. It behaves like a flu and sometimes travels faster than speech.&nbsp;</p>
<p>It comes from the Greek word "mimema," meaning something imitated. It travels from mind to mind. Every day you are bombarded with memes and micro-messages but you have to choose what you think and believe. Embedded in movies, commercials, books &mdash; in every form of media there is a message behind the message. Beware of what you hear and see, and ask yourself whether you really believe what is being shared.<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p><strong>10. Say "yes." </strong>By the time you are 17 years of age, you've heard "no" over 150,000 times and "yes" only 5,000 times. Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain and nervous system to change structurally and functionally as a result of input from the environment. When you say "yes" to your future, you are releasing neurotransmitters as neurons to infuse the synaptic nerve with hope and belief in yourself. You exist in the 21st century because the world needs you NOW.<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p><strong>11. Focus on producing results.</strong> Gone are the days when people could skate by on producing dismal results, lackluster performance, and anemic strategies with no accountability. Everything in business is under microscopic investigation. Produce or be invited to find your happiness elsewhere.</p>
<p>Recently, I was leading a session for 40 executives of a major Fortune 500 company that was already No. 1 in its region. However, the president made it very clear that while celebrating its past successes, each person needed to have the hair on the back of their neck standing up and their hair on fire as they contemplated how they would drive results for the new fiscal year.<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p><strong>12. Create a paradigm</strong>&nbsp;<strong>shift</strong>. In the scientific field, a pattern, example, or sample is considered to be a paradigm. A paradigm shift occurs when a new thought, idea, product, or service is introduced that challenges the previous way of experiencing or doing something.</p>
<p>For instance, in 1978 Masaru Ibuka introduced the Sony Walkman, which at the time was all the rage and was flying off the shelves of retail stores. On Oct. 23, 2001 &mdash; 30-plus days after 9/11 &mdash; we were introduced to the grandchild of the Sony Walkman: Apple's iPod. This invention disrupted the entire music-industry paradigm and forever shifted the way music is consumed. Assess where you are, and decide to be a <em>paradigm buster</em>.<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><strong>13. Be desperate and change.</strong>&nbsp;In his latest book "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/David-Goliath-Underdogs-Misfits-Battling/dp/0241959594/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1400534860&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=David+and+Goliath" target="_blank">David and Goliath</a>," Malcolm Gladwell shares an amazing story about University of Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino: "In 1978, when he was 25 years old, Pitino used the full-court press to take the school to its first NCAA tournament appearance in 24 years. Pitino says he has many coaches come to Louisville every year to learn the press. They turn around and email him and tell him that they can't do it. He tells them, 'We practice every day for two hours. The players are moving almost 98% of the practice. We spend very little time talking.'"</p>
<p>The coaches who came to learn from Rick Pitino <strong><em>were not desperate</em></strong> enough to change. Gladwell makes the point that to beat the Goliath in your life, you have to be desperate enough to do the unconventional.</p>
<p><em>Simon T. Bailey is the author of "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Shift-Your-Brilliance-Harness-Power/dp/0768404576/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1400534804&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=shift+your+brilliance" target="_blank">Shift Your Brilliance</a>"&nbsp;and a weekly columnist for American City Business Journal.&nbsp;</em></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-successful-people-wish-knew-at-22-2014-5" >What 12 Super-Successful People Wish They Knew At 22</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-i-wish-id-known-before-i-graduated-college-2014-5#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/us-army-captain-surprised-daughter-columbia-university-graduation-2014-5A US Army Captain Stationed In Afghanistan Surprised His Daughter At Columbia University Graduationhttp://www.businessinsider.com/us-army-captain-surprised-daughter-columbia-university-graduation-2014-5
Wed, 21 May 2014 12:10:00 -0400Peter Jacobs
<p>A graduating Columbia University student was brought to tears when her father &mdash; a U.S. Army Captain currently stationed in Afghanistan &mdash; <a href="http://vimeo.com/95799652">unexpectedly showed up to see her receive her diploma on Monday</a>.</p>
<p>When Columbia engineering student Ruby Robinson spoke with her father two weeks ago, he told her that he would not be able to make it to see her graduate from college. However, with some help from his general, Keith Robinson was able to make the trip at the last minute, arriving in New York Sunday night following a 14-hour flight from Kuwait to Washington, DC.</p>
<p>"After I saw him, I couldn't stop crying ... It was an amazing rush of emotions," <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/uptown/big-surprise-columbia-univ-graduation-article-1.1799582">Ruby Robinson told the New York Daily News</a>, where we first saw this video.</p>
<p>Watch the full video of Army Captain Keith Robinson surprising his graduating daughter below:</p>
<p><iframe width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/95799652?portrait=0&amp;color=a4bbd8"></iframe></p>
<p><a href="http://vimeo.com/95799652">A Surprise Guest at Columbia Engineering Class Day Ceremony</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/columbianews">ColumbiaNews</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-mcraven-commencement-speech-at-ut-2014-5" >Navy SEAL Commander Tells Students To Make Their Beds Every Morning In Incredible Commencement Speech</a></strong></p>
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<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-army-captain-surprised-daughter-columbia-university-graduation-2014-5#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/sandra-bullock-advice-in-graduation-speech-2014-5Sandra Bullock's 8 Inspiring Life Tips For The Class Of 2014http://www.businessinsider.com/sandra-bullock-advice-in-graduation-speech-2014-5
Tue, 20 May 2014 12:01:00 -0400Aly Weisman
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/537b753c6bb3f7d7316473db-1200-632/sandra-bullock-graduation-speech-2.png" border="0" alt="Sandra Bullock graduation speech" /></p><p>Academy Award-winning actress Sandra Bullock <a href="http://www.wwltv.com/video/featured-videos/Sandra-Bullock-surprises-Easton-grads-Advice-includes-dont-pick-your-nose-259832421.html" target="_blank">surprised the graduating class</a> at Warren Easton Charter High School in New Orleans Monday with a commencement speech about how to stop worrying and start finding joy.</p>
<p>Bullock opened her speech by saying that someone recently asked her, "<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">If you could go back and talk to your younger self, what would you say?"</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The "Gravity" actress said she then </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">realized, "W<span>hat I tell my 4-year-old son is what I wish someone would have told me before I stepped out in the world." </span></span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span>She then shared a few key lessons with the graduating class.</span></span></p>
<p><strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Here are Sandra Bullock's eight tips to leading a happy life:</span></strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>1. Stop worrying so much.</strong> Stop being scared of the unknown because anything I worried about didn't happen. Other stuff happened but not what I worried about.&nbsp;<span>The unknown we can't do anything about.</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>2. Raise the bar higher.</strong> For some reason, people out there want to see you fail but that's not your problem <span>&mdash;&nbsp;</span>that's their problem. I only remember the moments when I tried beyond what I thought I could do, and I do not remember the failures because I didn't. Nothing is a failure. It's just not supposed to work out that way because something better is supposed to come along.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>3. You have to dance a little bit in the morning</strong> before you leave the house because it changes the way you walk.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>4. Eat something green every day,</strong>&nbsp;with every meal.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>5. Do not pick your nose in public.</strong> How about we just go get a tissue?</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>6. When someone you care about hugs you, hug them back with two arms.</strong> When you hug someone with two arms, it allows you to lean on somebody and you always need someone to lean on.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>7. If someone doesn't want to play with you, it's OK.</strong> Not everyone is going to love us. Go find someone who is going to want to play with you and appreciates what you have to offer.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>8. Go find your joy.</strong> Whatever that is, go find your joy. Are you going to have a good day or are you going to have a <em>great</em> day? Because it's completely up to you. It's what you're going to remember in the end. You're not going to remember how you worried, the what-ifs, the whys, or who wronged you. It's the joy that stays with you.</p>
<p><strong>Watch Bullock's short but powerful speech below:</strong></p>
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<script src="http://www.wwltv.com/templates/belo_embedWrapper.js?storyid=259832421&amp;pos=bottom&amp;ref=$bimPlayerPageUrl" type="text/javascript"></script><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-successful-people-wish-knew-at-22-2014-5?op=1#ixzz32Gkis627" >What 12 Super-Successful People Wish They Knew At 22</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sandra-bullock-advice-in-graduation-speech-2014-5#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/5-student-loan-tips-2014-55 Must-Read Tips To Get Off To A Good Start On Paying Back Student Loanshttp://www.businessinsider.com/5-student-loan-tips-2014-5
Tue, 20 May 2014 11:44:00 -0400Rachel Rowan
<p><span><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/537b7632ecad04b5198bae35-905-678/college-graduate-17.jpg" border="0" alt="college graduate" />If you&rsquo;re getting ready to walk the stage in your mortarboard and get that coveted and hard-earned sheepskin this month, congratulations. </span></p>
<p><span>Whether it took you four years or a decade to get there, you&rsquo;re graduating and that&rsquo;s awesome. But if you borrowed to attend school, you&rsquo;ve got some consequences to deal with &ndash; and soon. </span></p>
<p><span>If you&rsquo;ve just graduated or will in the next few weeks, check out these tips to get off to a good start on your repayment so you can keep out of money trouble and be debt-free as soon as possible.</span><span><br /></span></p>
<p><strong>#1 Get Educated on What You Owe</strong></p>
<p>Many grads don&rsquo;t have a clue how much they owe in student loans until their first statement shows up and others didn&rsquo;t base their debt on ability to pay. If that&rsquo;s what you did, that&rsquo;s okay &ndash; it&rsquo;s done now, Hakuna Matata, we&rsquo;ll help you deal with it.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.tuition.io/" target="_blank">Sign up here for our free student loan tool</a>&nbsp;the second you&rsquo;re done reading this blog. We&rsquo;ll gather all your data and then when you sign in, you&rsquo;ll see how much you owe, who you owe it to and what your monthly payments will be. This includes both federal and private loans so you can get a complete understanding of what you owe to the penny.</p>
<p><strong>#2 Figure Out if You Can Afford Your Loans</strong></p>
<p>Once you find out how much you owe, the next step is to know how much this equates to in monthly payments. You can see this on your dashboard at Tuition.io. If you have a job lined up already, that&rsquo;s awesome. But you need to know what percentage of your take-home your loans will take-up before you start accumulating other debt and obligations. If you buy a new car fresh out of school or choose a costly apartment without taking into account your student loan obligations, you can be setting yourself up for failure from the get-go. Check out this article on&nbsp;<a href="http://www.billsbills.com/blog/503020-budget-rule-how-much-you-should-be-spending-everything-your-life" target="_blank">budgeting using the 50/30/20 rule</a>.</p>
<p><strong>#3 Apply for Alternate Repayment if You Can&rsquo;t</strong></p>
<p>If you owe more each month than you know you&rsquo;ll be able to pay because you simply borrowed too much, you can&rsquo;t find a job or you got a job but won&rsquo;t be earning enough to service the debt, you need to get proactive to make your debt more affordable. Click here to read How To Guides on applying for&nbsp;<a href="http://www.tuition.io/student-loan-help/how-to-guides/how-to-apply-for-income-based-repayment/" target="_blank">Income Based Repayment</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.tuition.io/student-loan-help/how-to-guides/how-to-apply-for-pay-as-you-earn-pay/" target="_blank">Pay As You Earn</a>. PAYE offers the lowest possible monthly payments. Take time to apply for this alternate repayment before your grace period expires so that you can start out under these lower payments rather than the higher amounts required under the traditional plan.</p>
<p><strong>#4 Skip the Grace Period</strong></p>
<p>You get a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nelnet.com/in-grace/" target="_blank">grace period of six months</a>&nbsp;after graduation when you don&rsquo;t have to make any student loan payments for federal loans. Private student loans usually don&rsquo;t come with this option. But if you&rsquo;ve got a job and can afford your payments, there&rsquo;s no reason to not start paying as soon as you get your first paycheck. Starting your repayment right away will get you into the habit of living within your means. The sooner you start your repayment, the sooner you&rsquo;ll be out of debt.</p>
<p><strong>#5 Make Extra Payments Early and Often</strong></p>
<p>No matter what repayment plan you&rsquo;re paying under &ndash; traditional, IBR or PAYE &ndash; you should make additional payments toward principal as often as you can. The only exception to this tip is if you will qualify for&nbsp;<a href="http://studentaid.ed.gov/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/charts/public-service" target="_blank">Public Service Loan Forgiveness</a>. Otherwise, any bonuses, windfalls or additional money you can get your hands on should be devoted to principal on your loans. Using our student loan tool, you can check out how making extra payments will lower your interest payments and speed you toward payoff.</p>
<p><em>Congrats on your big day and finally getting your degree! We hope these tips get you off to a good start. We encourage you to&nbsp;<a href="http://www.tuition.io/blog" target="_blank">read our blog often</a>&nbsp;for lots of valuable advice on how to deal with your student loans.</em></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/5-student-loan-tips-2014-5#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/graduating-seniors-cant-afford-caps-and-gowns-2014-5Hundreds Of High School Seniors Won't Walk At Graduation Because They Can't Afford Caps And Gownshttp://www.businessinsider.com/graduating-seniors-cant-afford-caps-and-gowns-2014-5
Tue, 20 May 2014 10:12:25 -0400Caroline Moss
<p><span><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/535ab02ceab8eaa82b505e1a-1200-800/college students graduation graduates commencement.jpg" border="0" alt="College Students Graduation Graduates Commencement" />When King High School senior Grace Powers heard some of her classmates wouldn't be able to walk across the stage at graduation this Spring, she wanted to find out why.</span></p>
<p>Usually, when you hear about teenagers being unable to walk, it's because <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/science-joke-in-the-yearbook-2014-5">they're being punished for breaking the rules.</a></p>
<p>Not in this case.</p>
<p>Hundreds of graduating seniors throughout Texas won't be able to don the cap and gown at their milestone ceremony this June &mdash; simply because they can't afford to.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.kztv10.com/news/graduating-c-c-i-s-d-students-walking-the-stage-thanks-to-donations/">KZTV reports each cap and gown set costs $40.</a> When Powers heard her classmates couldn't make ends meet, she created&nbsp;<span>a graduation sponsorship program, called&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.ciscc.org/Walk_the_Stage.cfm" target="_blank">"Walk the Stage</a>," where people could sponsor the seniors by buying the cap and gown in their name.</p>
<p>Thanks to Powers, over 700 students have been sponsored, but there are still 400 left.</p>
<p>Jennifer Pinnon recently recieved a sponsor, and she said she'll probably cry out of joy when they call her name at graduation and she'll be able to walk the stage.</p>
<p><span>You can find more information on sponsoring a student&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.ciscc.org/Walk_the_Stage.cfm" target="_blank">here.</a></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/graduating-seniors-cant-afford-caps-and-gowns-2014-5#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/nominate-the-most-impressive-high-school-students-2014-5Who Are The Most Impressive Kids Graduating From High School This Year?http://www.businessinsider.com/nominate-the-most-impressive-high-school-students-2014-5
Mon, 19 May 2014 13:22:00 -0400Melia Robinson
<p><strong><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/536a3a6eeab8ea5a79187ab9-480-/nazareth-college-graduation-students-12.jpg" border="0" alt="Nazareth College Graduation Students" width="480" style="float: right;" />Call for nominations!</strong></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Each year, Business Insider publishes a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/most-impressive-high-school-graduates-2013-6?op=1#!Kcspu" target="_blank">list of the most impressive kids graduating from high school</a>.</span></p>
<p>Most of these teens are barely 18 years old, and they're doing more than many adults could ever hope to do in their lifetimes.</p>
<p>Last year, we profiled a scientist who built a nuclear reactor in his father's garage, a swimmer who won four Olympic gold medals, and a self-taught coder who runs his own app development company.</p>
<p>Any wunderkinds come to mind?</p>
<p>Send an email including the <strong>student's name, contact information, a brief description of their accomplishments, and any relevant website links</strong> to our Lists &amp; Rankings team: Melia Robinson (<a href="mailto:mrobinson@businessinsider.com">mrobinson@businessinsider.com</a>) and Melissa Stanger (<a href="mailto:mstanger@businessinsider.com">mstanger@businessinsider.com</a>). To be eligible, students must be graduating high school in spring 2014.</p>
<p>We'll be accepting nominations through <strong>Friday, May 23</strong>.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/most-impressive-high-school-graduates-2013-6?op=1#!Kcspu" >Check out last year's list of the most impressive high school grads</a></strong></p>
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<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nominate-the-most-impressive-high-school-students-2014-5#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/quinnipiac-graduation-bomb-threats-2014-5Girl Phoned Bomb Threats To Quinnipiac Graduation Because She Didn't Want Her Family To Know She Wasn't Graduatinghttp://www.businessinsider.com/quinnipiac-graduation-bomb-threats-2014-5
Mon, 19 May 2014 09:36:00 -0400AP
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/537a0721ecad04bd6eea9726-560-420/quinnipiac-danielle-shea.jpg" border="0" alt="quinnipiac Danielle Shea" /></p><p>HAMDEN, Conn. (AP) &mdash; Fearful that her family would learn she was not graduating, a 22-year-old woman phoned in bomb threats to Quinnipiac University on Sunday to try and force commencement ceremonies to be canceled, police said.</p>
<p>Hamden police said Danielle Shea of Quincy, Mass., gave a detailed confession after being arrested at the indoor campus athletic arena, the TD Bank Sports Center, where the commencement for the university's College of Arts and Sciences had been moved because of the threats. She was wearing a cap and gown she'd purchased.</p>
<p>Police said Shea didn't attend the university this year, but her mother paid thousands of dollars she thought was for her daughter's education. When graduation arrived, Shea panicked when relatives didn't see her name on the graduation roster, they said.</p>
<p>According to police, Shea made two calls to the university's public safety department. In the first, about 20 minutes before the start of the 6 p.m. graduation ceremony, she stated there was a "bomb in the library," said police. In the second call, about 20 minutes later, police said Shea warned "Several bombs are on campus" and noted "You haven't cleared out graduation. That's not a good idea."</p>
<p>Hamden and university police identified Shea using the telephone number she'd called from and then found her at the arena.</p>
<p>She has been charged with first degree threatening and falsely reporting an incident. She is being held on $20,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court in Meriden on May 30.</p>
<p>University spokesman John Morgan said 388 students were part of the commencement ceremony for the College of Arts and Sciences. It was delayed 90 minutes due to the threats.</p>
<p>Two earlier ceremonies were held at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.</p>
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